Clinical Pharmacy Practice Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, The British University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt.
Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Drug Des Devel Ther. 2021 May 3;15:1819-1833. doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S308863. eCollection 2021.
COVID-19 has caused a major global health crisis, as excessive inflammation, oxidation, and exaggerated immune response in some sufferers can lead to a condition known as cytokine storm, which may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDs), which can be fatal. So far, few effective drugs have emerged to assist in the treatment of patients with COVID-19, though some herbal medicine candidates may assist in the fight against COVID-19 deaths. Thymoquinone (TQ), the main active ingredient of black seed oil, possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and anticoagulant activities. TQ also increases the activity and number of cytokine suppressors, lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and macrophages, and it has demonstrated antiviral potential against a number of viruses, including murine cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and other coronaviruses. Recently, TQ has demonstrated notable antiviral activity against a SARSCoV-2 strain isolated from Egyptian patients and, interestingly, molecular docking studies have also shown that TQ could potentially inhibit COVID-19 development through binding to the receptor-binding domain on the spike and envelope proteins of SARS-CoV-2, which may hinder virus entry into the host cell and inhibit its ion channel and pore forming activity. Other studies have shown that TQ may have an inhibitory effect on SARS CoV2 proteases, which could diminish viral replication, and it has also demonstrated good antagonism to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors, allowing it to interfere with virus uptake into the host cell. Several studies have also noted its potential protective capability against numerous chronic diseases and conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, asthma, renal dysfunction and malignancy. TQ has recently been tested in clinical trials for the treatment of several different diseases, and this review thus aims to highlight the potential therapeutic effects of TQ in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）已在全球范围内引发重大卫生危机，因为部分患者体内的炎症、氧化及免疫反应过度，可能会导致细胞因子风暴（cytokine storm），进而发展为急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS），甚至可能导致死亡。目前，针对 COVID-19 患者，虽有一些候选草药可能有助于对抗 COVID-19 死亡，但仍缺乏有效的治疗药物。黑种草籽油的主要活性成分——百里醌（thymoquinone，TQ）具有抗氧化、抗炎、抗病毒、抗菌、免疫调节和抗凝作用。TQ 还能增加细胞因子抑制剂、淋巴细胞、自然杀伤细胞和巨噬细胞的活性和数量，对多种病毒（如鼠巨细胞病毒、EB 病毒、丙型肝炎病毒、人类免疫缺陷病毒和其他冠状病毒）具有潜在的抗病毒作用。最近，TQ 对从埃及患者中分离出的 SARS-CoV-2 株表现出显著的抗病毒活性，有趣的是，分子对接研究还表明，TQ 可能通过与 SARS-CoV-2 的刺突蛋白和包膜蛋白上的受体结合域结合，从而抑制 COVID-19 的发展，这可能会阻碍病毒进入宿主细胞并抑制其离子通道和孔形成活性。其他研究表明，TQ 可能对 SARS-CoV2 蛋白酶具有抑制作用，从而减少病毒复制，并且对血管紧张素转换酶 2 受体也有良好的拮抗作用，可干扰病毒进入宿主细胞。一些研究还注意到，TQ 可能对多种慢性疾病和病症具有保护作用，包括糖尿病、高血压、血脂异常、哮喘、肾功能障碍和恶性肿瘤。TQ 最近已在临床试验中用于治疗多种不同疾病，因此，本综述旨在强调 TQ 在 COVID-19 大流行背景下的潜在治疗效果。
